Reason and Argument

Chapter 11 (2/2)

Ambiguity

• The vagueness/ambiguity distinction should be largely familiar by now, but here goes again:– A word or expression is vague if it is not clear

exactly what it means.– A word or expression is ambiguous if it is not

clear which meaning, from a number of distinct meanings, is intended.

Ambiguity

• The phrase “Draw your weapon” might be called by someone ambiguous because it could mean what Clint Eastwood does in many of his fabulous westerns or it could be what an artist does when sketching a pistol or sword.

• We’ll be more limiting in our approach. We’ll only call something ambiguous if the context doesn’t clear up the situation, or if the ambiguity results in something humorous.

Two kinds of Ambiguity

• Semantic– When the ambiguity

stems from a particular word or phrase having more than one meaning

• Syntactic– When the ambiguity is

a result of grammar or structure (usually concerns which words are intended to go together)

Ambiguity can be very funny:

• Some good ambiguity in church bulletins:– Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be

speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

– "Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands."

– Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help. – A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the

church hall. Music will follow. – Please place your donation in the envelope along with

the deceased person you want remembered.

Disambiguating:

• There are a couple of tried and true means of making an ambiguous statement clear:– Rewriting: substituting a different word or

phrase for the ambiguous word or phrase.– Expanding: adding extra information that

makes the context clear.– (see Exercise I for examples)

Equivocation

• Equivocation occurs when the same word or phrase is used in multiple ways in the same argument and causes an argument that appears to be valid to really be invalid.

• Usually the different meanings of the word are used in different ways over the course of the whole essay or book and usually not in the same formal argument. Often the meaning of a term may “drift” over the course of someone’s writing.

An Example:

• Discussion question #1 on p. 364 equivocates on the term ‘public interest’, failing to draw a distinction between things that are in the public’s interest and things that the public is interested in.

Exercise IV

1. Semantic “drug”

2. Semantic “man”

3. Semantic “practice”

4. Semantic “natural”

5. Same as 5

6. Semantic “right”

7. No ambiguity, but non-sequitur

8. Syntactic, placement of “some” and “thing”

9. Syntactic “was/were”

10. Syntactic “any number”

11. Syntactic “fiber”

12. Syntactic “law”

Terms that need defining:

• Sometimes unclarity can be remedied by taking more care in defining one’s terms.

• There are several kinds of definitions that can be used depending on the purpose.

Lexical definitions

• These are common dictionary definitions, that are meant to provide facts about the standard meanings of words in a particular language.

• They try to explain what some words mean by using some other words that are presumably familiar to the reader.

Disambiguating definitions

• These do not provide an account of a given word, but specify the intended meaning of a word that may have multiple meanings.

Stipulative definitions

• These are used to assign a meaning to a new term or else to assign a new or unconventional meaning to an old term.

• Stipulative definitions are established by explicit performatives.

• Example: from “The Virtue of Selfishness”

Precising definitions

• As disambiguating definitions are used to resolve ambiguity, precising definitions are used to reduce vagueness.

• Often, precising definitions take the form of supplying standards for evaluative terms

• Precising definitions can often be argued on the basis of their effects, which is an excuse that some give for not supplying precising definitions where necessary or useful.

Systematic/theoretical definitions:

• These definitions are used to establish relationships among words and concepts for some formal structure (usually scientific, mathematic, or logical)

Exercise VI

1. A stipulative definition of “klurg”

2. A stipulative term for the chunks of ice under car fenders in the winter:

3. Something that does not have a common name but ought to: